Some lovely and intriguing concept art for OBLIVION (starring Tom Cruise) has appeared online, via i09. This one's from Joseph Kosinki, the visual mastermind who brought us TRON LEGACY back in 2010. A film I enjoyed tremendously, despite a few pacing issues. Saw a bit of it again on cable the other night. Even knowing what's coming, some of style its imagery truly knocks me out.

A few samples from of i09's OBLIVION gallery images appear herein...click any pic to see more!

Also starring Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko, and featuring a score by M.8.3, OBLIVION is scheduled to release July 2013.

just needed more movies to tell this thing. The next one would be the release of the MCP on the net and Flynn jr would have to release the backup of his dad on the net to combat it. He would have needed to journey to the darkest parts of the net to accomplish that. Oh what could have been.

After all, most vehicles in Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, etc, etc, make little sense either.
This thing's no LESS practical than an X-Wing or a Viper, which are both wildly unaerodynamic.
Maybe my problem with this vehicle design is that it's so OBVIOUSLY based on real-world helicopters like the Aerospatialle Gazelle, which immediately points out why the design is so ridiculous.
But it looks pretty, so why does it bug me so much?

this is what comes out?
Still, I'd love to see more original sci-fi. Legacy was a stylish, awesomely soundtracked movie but hollow in the inside.
And people: a follow-up isn't the same as a sequel. I would've thought you people would know the difference!

Incredibly huge field of view, perfect for dogfights; looks very maneuverable and fairly compact, also perfect for dogfights and ground support. All the conveniences of a copter without the worries of the blades.
Largest problem may be speed, but humans can't survive supersonic hard banks anyways, so supersonic isn't that much of advantage unless you need to get somewhere or leave somewhere fast.

I love the original Tron. Legacy is definitely a mixed bag though. I like the way it looks, but not as much as the original. Most of the visual effects are great, but the de-aging effect is awful. It's a fairly interesting expansion of the ideas contained in the first film, except that it missed the point completely. All in all I can enjoy it quite a bit if I'm in the right mood, but it doesn't come close to touching the original. I'll probably be interested in seeing this unless the trailer convinces me otherwise... and with Tom Cruise in it there's a good chance of that, although he's been in enough good or great movies for me not to write them off immediately just because he's in them.

I wasn't as impressed back in the day by the original TRON, and I am both a movie geek and a sci-fi computer geek so it should have blown me away. While LEGACY wasn't so awesome as to throw into the sci-fi epic classic category (IMO). I still enjoyed it very much....I also enjoyed John Carter and PROMETHIUS too. Go figure, but I really did think that Lucas did a fumble with the STAR WARS prequels...especially episode 1.

One of the guys who worked on set told me the whole plot before I could stop him. Obviously, I won't post it here unless asked.
I wanted to kill him, but I was pacified because it wasn't the worst plot I'd ever heard. This has the potential to be better than decent.
Oh, and I've seen iPhone pictures of the physical model of that aircraft that they shot with on green-screen... looked awesome.

You can dig on the "pacing" issues (I saw none) sometimes unrealistic young Bridges effects and lack of Tron himself but anyone with eyes and ears has to admit that it's one the best looking/sounding films to put in a home theater system and CRANK up. Scene after scene of neon coolness. Blows so many summer movies out of the water. I'll take Tron Legacy over Avengers any day of the week.

Can't stand that maniac. Hope Kaminski pulls through.
And while Tron Legacy was a beauty to look at, not much really happened spectacle or plot-wise. Half of the movie was flashbacks of things that occurred years ago. I expect more in the next sequel.

For a new director, Joseph Kosinki earned my respect with Legacy. Great with action (no shaky-cam and cool choreography), visual effects, handles actors well and really crafted a solid film. I will gladly follow Kosinski into his next project. Kosinski should be handed a new Star Wars movie. He would definately turn out something cooler and less dull than episodes 1-3.

Ok, there doesn't seem to be a propellor in that circular tail section, but it sure looks like the tail rotor housing from a Gazelle helicopter. What function does it serve, if any?!
Also, is this thing an atmospheric craft or a spacecraft?
Let me be clear, I think it LOOKS really neat. Like a cross between a Bell 47, a Gazelle, and a Corporate Sector IRD Fighter, with an Apache sensor pod perched on top.
I simply don't get how a helicopter design works for what's clearly not a helicopter.
Of course, if it's able the generate debate and buzz for the movie, the design has served its purpose.

We're in dire need of some quality sci-fi. Tron Legacy was promising but became a major letdown. Like Prometheus, very beautiful to look at but not really worth a second viewing.
I think the artwork looks cool though. I just hope seeing it in motion doesn't come off looking like one of Kosinski's car commercials.

It was a single space ship set, a cave, and the donut the Engineers chill in. Dodgy CGI creatures... uninspired CGI creaters at that. Okay ship design and retro cool spacesuits. Otherwise, not ambitious or particularly impressive to look at. Fuck, the big set piece was the giant donut rolling over Charlize. Alien and Aliens for that matter did a better job of creating a real enviroment for the characters with more atmosphere and realism at a tenth of the price.

Legacy's best part was the music. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the same for this movie.
But, why's everyone whining about that air ship? It's kind of obvious how it "works," though the ball at the top and the legs could have been done better. But then again, this is preproduction art, so who knows what the thing looks like in the final movie...

and I got excited. TRON LEGACY is the best 2 hour music video ever. It got a little muddied at the end but I really want the next one and am crossing my fingers Disney is still going through with it even with the Star Wars news. Heck, if we could get sequels to John Carter I would be pleased too. I really enjoyed it as a family friendly adventure movie.
Now, having said all that, this Oblivion film looks interesting. I love the bleak concept art. Here's hoping this film will get our arm hairs standing on end like the first Matrix film did.

I didn't look at the enbiggened photos before. Now that I've seen the high-rez photos, this looks way more like space opera than hard sci-fi, which means there's no need for the vehicle design to be realistic. I retract all complaints.

Has there been any word? Last I heard they were in the "planning stages" but that was like 2 years ago. It didn't explode at the box office, but it sure as hell didn't do bad enough to not earn another one. Considering some of the other shit films that are allowed sequels.

if they hadn't had Garrett Hedlund in there. It should've just been about K Flynn helping Quorra stop Clu's plan, and escaping to the outside world. Olivia was surprisingly charismatic in the role; it seemed like she took it seriously, yet was having fun. Hedlund was a plank. She should've been the protagonist.

Still, Kosinski's visual sense from Tron was outfuckingstanding. I am instantly interested in anything he does.
He is still one of my top picks to take over Star Wars. Think of how cohesively he was able to retain the dominant theme of light in the design of Tron. Nothing was at odds with itself. Seamless. This guy can do that...get a universal stylistic sense for Star Wars, while also allowing some breathing room for all the different species and factions.

Yes, it is slow. I don't even know how anybody could argue that point. But it's real easy on the eyes and the story is interesting enough. I definitely look forward to revisiting that world in less than 20-whatever years.
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Olga Kurylenko gets naked a lot. Naked Olga Kurylenko Tron.... yeah... I know. Not happening. But it wouldn't suck if it did.